At Westerly High School my physics cooperating teacher is Mr. Varden. Mr. Varden teaches one section of Physics 2 AP (H), three sections of Physics 1 AP (H), and one section of Physics 1 (CP). In the spring I will be taking over for Mr. Varden in his Physics 1 (CP) course and two of his Physics 1 (H) courses. The breadth of the curriculum for these two courses is very similar and therefore the topics are covered at a similar pace. However, the depth of the content in the honors class is much more advanced. In general, at the start of February, most introductory physics courses will begin studying two dimensional kinematics. They will already be familiar with vectors and they will have already been introduced to the important equations of motion used in a one-dimensional situation. This will be the point in time that I will be taking over for both of the classes. I've decided to concentrate on this particular "2-Dimensional Motion" unit and develop a unit plan that I can use during my student teaching experience.
My intention is to develop a unit plan that will involve a great deal of "hands-on", inquiry based learning in which the students discover certain concepts on their own and truly see the applications of kinematics to the real world. The unit on "2-Dimensional Motion" will begin with a mathematics review. Before discussing any of the physics involved in the unit I want to ensure that all of my students have a strong mathematical foundation on which I can build up the physical concepts. During the first lesson of the unit we will review trigonometric functions and also practice working with components of vectors in two-dimensional spaces. Then I will introduce the idea of gravity to my students. Gravity is the most important difference between 1-D and 2-D kinematics problems and is certainly an important concept to focus on. This concept will probably occupy 2-3 lessons/class periods. I will have students perform an investigation together in which they form a plan to measure the acceleration due to gravity. Once gravity is covered we will review 1-D kinematics in order to make sure that all of the students understand how to use the equations of motion to solve problems. I will use a concept map to help students learn the problem solving process involved in solving kinematics problems. Next we will delve into projectile motion. I will incorporate many hands-on investigations with projectiles outside and I will have several assignments for the students to complete at home. I will focus on using real world examples of sports and other activities to allow students to understand that projectile motion is ALL around us.
I am excited to begin to work on this unit plan and think about fun activities and investigations that I can do with my students. I am also very excited to implement this in the spring within Mr. Varden's classes. The GSE's that will be touched upon in this unit can be seen below.
PS3 (7-8) - 8 Students demonstrate an understanding of motion by…
8a measuring distance and time for a moving object and using those values as well as the relationship s=d/t to calculate speed and graphically represent the data.
8b solving for any unknown in the expression s=d/t given values for the other two variables.
8c differentiating among speed, velocity and acceleration.
Students demonstrate an understanding of force (e.g., friction, gravitational, magnetic) by…
8d making and testing predictions on how unbalanced forces acting on objects change speed or direction of motion, or both.
8e describing or graphically representing that the acceleration of an object is proportional to the force on the object and inversely proportional to the object’s mass.
8f differentiating between mass and weight.
PS3 (9-11) - 8 Students demonstrate an understanding of forces and motion by…
8a predicting and/or graphing the path of an object in different reference planes and explain how and why (forces) it occurs.
8b using modeling, illustrating, graphing explain how distance and velocity change over time for a free falling object.
PS3 (Ext) - 8 Students demonstrate an understanding of forces and motion by…
8aa using a quantitative representation of how distance and velocity change over time for a free falling object.
8bb using a quantitative representation of the path of an object which has horizontal and free fall motion.
8cc. by modeling, illustrating, graphing, and quantitatively explaining the path of an object, which has horizontal and free fall motion. e.g. football, projectile.
My intention is to develop a unit plan that will involve a great deal of "hands-on", inquiry based learning in which the students discover certain concepts on their own and truly see the applications of kinematics to the real world. The unit on "2-Dimensional Motion" will begin with a mathematics review. Before discussing any of the physics involved in the unit I want to ensure that all of my students have a strong mathematical foundation on which I can build up the physical concepts. During the first lesson of the unit we will review trigonometric functions and also practice working with components of vectors in two-dimensional spaces. Then I will introduce the idea of gravity to my students. Gravity is the most important difference between 1-D and 2-D kinematics problems and is certainly an important concept to focus on. This concept will probably occupy 2-3 lessons/class periods. I will have students perform an investigation together in which they form a plan to measure the acceleration due to gravity. Once gravity is covered we will review 1-D kinematics in order to make sure that all of the students understand how to use the equations of motion to solve problems. I will use a concept map to help students learn the problem solving process involved in solving kinematics problems. Next we will delve into projectile motion. I will incorporate many hands-on investigations with projectiles outside and I will have several assignments for the students to complete at home. I will focus on using real world examples of sports and other activities to allow students to understand that projectile motion is ALL around us.
I am excited to begin to work on this unit plan and think about fun activities and investigations that I can do with my students. I am also very excited to implement this in the spring within Mr. Varden's classes. The GSE's that will be touched upon in this unit can be seen below.
PS3 (7-8) - 8
Students demonstrate an understanding of motion by…
8a measuring distance and time for a moving object and using those values as well as the relationship s=d/t to calculate speed and graphically represent the data.
8b solving for any unknown in the expression s=d/t given values for the other two variables.
8c differentiating among speed, velocity and acceleration.
Students demonstrate an understanding of force (e.g., friction, gravitational, magnetic) by…
8d making and testing predictions on how
unbalanced forces acting on objects change speed or direction of motion, or both.
8e describing or graphically
representing that the acceleration of an object is proportional to the force on the object and inversely proportional to the object’s mass.
8f differentiating between mass
and weight.
PS3 (9-11) - 8
Students demonstrate an understanding of forces and motion by…
8a predicting and/or graphing the path of an object in different reference planes and explain how and why (forces) it occurs.
8b using modeling, illustrating, graphing explain how distance and velocity change over time for a free falling object.
PS3 (Ext) - 8
Students demonstrate an understanding of forces and motion by…
8aa using a quantitative representation of how distance and velocity change over time for a free falling object.
8bb using a quantitative representation of the path of an object which has horizontal and free fall motion.
8cc. by modeling, illustrating, graphing, and quantitatively explaining the path of an object, which has horizontal and free fall motion. e.g. football, projectile.